The birds will love visiting the feeders when you attach these irresistible gourmet bird food balls, affectionately referred to as fat balls. Loaded with high fat and flavor, this easy throw-together treat will have the birds literally flocking to your yard.
This high-fat recipe contains bacon grease which is a readily accepted source of fat. It tends to draw in starlings, bluebirds, jays, woodpeckers, Carolina wrens and more.
Bird Treat Ingredients, What Each one Attracts
| Suet (rendered from beef fat) | Woodpeckers, wrens, warblers, tanagers, nuthatch, creepers, chickadees, orioles, titmice, mockingbirds, cardinals, goldfinches, bluebirds, grosbeaks, buntings |
| Peanuts and peanut butter | Towhees, goldfinches, cardinals, chickadees, wrens, sparrows, titmice, grosbeaks, buntings, juncos |
| Berries | Waxwings, robins, bluebirds, thrushes |
| Raisins and currants | Waxwings, orioles, robins, bluebirds, thrushes |
| Nuts | Creepers, towhees, juncos, thrashes, mockingbirds, warblers, woodpeckers |
| Apples | Waxwings, mockingbirds, thrashers, wrens, cardinals, grosbeaks, buntings |
| Fruit | Tanagers, orioles, woodpeckers, mockingbirds, thrashers, warblers, cardinals, grosbeaks, buntings, goldfinches, finches |
To put out a number of fat balls at once, use a fat ball feeder. This helps prevent accidental entanglements in netting or with hanging wires.
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Gourmet Bird Food Balls
You’ll Need
2 pounds ground suet, melted
2 cup peanut butter (avoid sugar-free brands)
1/3 cup blackstrap molasses
1/4 c bacon grease
2 c. regular oatmeal
1 cup cornmeal
Birdfeed with sunflower seeds
Blend melted suet, peanut butter, molasses, bacon grease, oatmeal, and cornmeal. Add enough seeds until the mixture can be rolled into balls. Roll into 3-5 inch balls and coat with bird feed while warm. Chill. Place outside on feeders.
Gift Giving Idea:
To Use as a gift, Tie a piece of jute to make a large hanger & create a ball around the yarn/jute, leaving enough to hang the ball. Wrap in saran wrap/plastic wrap & attach a gift tag.
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